SMALL HOLDINGS IN SCOTLAND 121 



occupier and bj- the development of co-operation to a fuller extent than it 

 has at present reached in Scotland. 



Conclusion. 



The form of tenure thus established for small holdings in Scotland differs 

 fundamental!}' from the small ownership set up in Ireland by the Juand 

 Purchase Acts, and from the tenure of those small holders in England who 

 under recent legislation are the tenants of County or Parish Coimcils. The 

 landholder or statutory small tenant remains the tenant of the owner of 

 the land which he occupies, and the rights of the landlord as owner of the 

 soil are reserved bj^ the Act The relations between landlord and tenant 

 are, however, on the application of either party, removed from the sphere 

 of private contract and made subject to statutory provisions. The tenant 

 and his statutory successors have a right to the continued occupation of the 

 holding, but this right cannot be assigned to any person who is not a mem- 

 ber of the family. The landholder who has received a loan from the Board 

 of Agriculture for the purpose of erecting buildings is, in respect of them, a 

 purchasing proprietor, but for the land he pays only a fair land rent, and 

 he is rated for local purposes on this land rent alone, as occupier, and not 

 on the buildings and other improvements. 



Small ownership is comparatively rare in Scotland, and the system 

 is unfamiliar. The experiment of the Congested Districts Board, already 

 mentioned, illustrates the difficulties connected with the establishment 

 of small proprietors. On the other hand, the system embodied in the Land- 

 holders Acts prevents a small holding from being sold, mortgaged or divided, 

 and leaves the occupier free from the burdens attached to the ownership 

 of land, while it ensures to him and his heirs the chief advantage of ownership 

 by giving liim security of tenure, which, together with the fixing of a judi- 

 cial rent, will justify him in improving liis holding to the utmost extent 

 of which he is capable. 



